Gutter Cleaning Costs

Most everyone knows that cleaning your gutters is an essential part of owning a home, especially if your home is surrounded by tons of leaf-bearing trees. But what does gutter cleaning cost? Or what should it cost? This article might not be able to hone in on the exact cost of cleaning your specific guttering, but it will get you in the ballpark so that you know what to expect when you are contacting a professional to take care of this task.

Average Gutter Cleaning Costs
We have searched around and asked our contractors all over the country to tell us exactly what they are charging homeowners to have their guttering cleaned. The highest rate we found was $150 and the lowest was $35, but let's take a closer look at how this is figured.

The Low End
The low end of the scale is usually reserved for small, one-story homes that either don't have much guttering or have relatively flat roofs. This combination allows a handyman or some other gutter professional to work quickly and safely to clean your guttering.

The High End
The high end of the scale is usually multi-storied homes that have steep roofs and many feet of guttering. The danger factor of taller homes translates into the job taking more time, since ladders or tie-downs have to be moved. Some homes might even be charged more than $150, but this was the highest we noticed of the contractors we surveyed.

Most homes fall somewhere in between these extremes and will likely average $75 for gutter cleaning costs.

How They Charge for Cleaning Gutters
Most costs for guttering cleaning are determined in one or two ways: either by the hour or by the job. If a handyman is charging by the hour, that first hour is going to be more expensive than the hours after. For example, a handyman might charge $75 for the first hour and $55 for every hour after that. They do this to make short trips cost effective for their business.

*A little hint. If you have anything else that needs fixing, inspected, or maintained, bundle these tasks into one trip. While you already have a handyman out to help, you might as well take advantage and only pay once for that more expensive hour.

The other way that pros charge for cleaning gutters is by the job. They have been in the business long enough to know what to charge for each house. If you live in a cookie cutter type neighborhood where the houses are pretty similar, get together with the neighbors and see if you can't get one professional to take care of everyone's gutters on the same day. You can likely negotiate a better price. Just an idea.

Something to Watch for
No matter what the charge is for gutter cleaning, everyone thinks of it as a once a year cost. This is not always the case. If your home is surrounded by several trees, you might need this done twice or more during the fall just to make sure that your gutters are indeed clear. Everyone wants to live on a street where there are huge trees, but there is a price to pay for this. If you find that you are paying several hundred dollars a year to keep your gutters intact, you should consider some type of gutter screens or professional gutter guards. You will quickly offset these costs by not needing to have your gutters cleaned anymore.